Tracking militarists’ efforts to influence U.S. foreign policy

Araghchi: Iran Open To Additional Protocol As Part Of Endgame

Jasmin Ramsey, last updated: October 16, 2013

LobeLog

Abbas Aragchi, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister who is currently leading talks in Geneva between Iran and world powers known as the P5+1, told IPS News in an interview at his hotel that Iran is willing to implement the Additional Protocol in the final stage of a mutually agreed upon nuclear deal.

“The Additional Protocol is a part of the endgame,” Araghchi told IPS. “It’s on the table, but not for the time being, it’s a part of the final step,” he said.

According to the Arms Control Association, the Additional Protocol “is a legal document granting the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] complementary inspection authority to that provided in underlying safeguards agreements.” The voluntary but advanced nuclear safeguards standard, the implementation of which includes a legal document, was accepted earlier by Iran in 2003 and was adhered to but not officially ratified by Iran’s parliament. “The Additional Protocol requires States to provide an expanded declaration of their nuclear activities and grants the Agency broader rights of access to sites in the country,” according to the IAEA’s website.

Asked whether he was expecting any breakthroughs after an initial positive first day of the two-day talks, Araghchi said, “Any break through depends on the other side.”

He also seemed to reiterate the “cautious optimism” that an EU official noted yesterday after Iran presented its new proposal to the P5+1, the details of which remain under wraps.

“We made a very good, logical and balanced proposal,” said Araghchi, referring to the PowerPoint presentation that was presented by the official head of Iran’s nuclear negotiating team, Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is Iran’s Foreign Minister.

“We are looking forward this morning to hearing from [the P5+1] on their counter proposal, what their reaction is and their evaluation of our proposal,” noted Araghchi.

“It’s to soon to talk about whether we have made any progress but maybe when we’ve heard from them we can come to a conclusion if everything is going well,” he added.

“I have a good feeling about it but I cannot judge now,” Araghchi told IPS. He then repeated Iran’s earlier call for identifying and establishing an “end game” for a nuclear deal.

“We believe to make an agreement now, we need to come to an agreement on the common objective, the end game, the final step and the first step,” Aragchi said.

“It’s not useful to decide only on the first step and take that without having a clear picture of the future and the destination,” he said.

“So it’s very important to set the common objective that both sides can agree on,” said Araghchi.

Araghchi also told IPS News that Iran is expecting to return to meet with the P5+1 in Geneva, but did not confirm when or whether the next round of talks would occur at the ministerial level.

“There is a common understanding that we have to meet again soon,” he said. “The level is not decided yet.”

Jasmin Ramsey is the managing editor of LobeLog.

Search RightWeb

Share RightWeb

Featured Profiles

The brainchild of Sears-Roebuck heiress Nina Rosenwald, the Gatestone Institute is a New York-based advocacy organization formerly chaired by John Bolton that is notorious for spreading misinformation about Muslims and advocating extremely hawkish views on everything from Middle East policy to immigration.

Conrad Black is a former media mogul closely connected to rightist political factions in the United States who was convicted in July 2007 for fraud and obstruction of justice and later pardoned by his friend President Trump.

David Friedman is U.S. Ambassador to Israel under Donald Trump. He is known for his extreme views on Israel, which include opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state and support for Israeli settlements.

From the Wires

A series of escalations in both word and deed have raised fears of U.S.-Iranian military confrontation, either direct or by proxy. It is urgent that cooler heads prevail – in European capitals as in Tehran and Washington – to head off the threat of a disastrous war.

The assault on Tripoli by Khalifa Haftar, Libya’s renegade general and leader of the self-anointed Libyan National Army (LNA), has forced an indefinite postponement of key UN peace efforts in the country even as the Trump White House announced that the president recognized Haftar’s “important” role in fighting terrorists.

Advocates of cutting U.S. aid to Israel rather than using it as leverage must understand how this aid works, how big a challenge it represents for advocacy, and how to make a potentially successful argument against it.